If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons. � Winston Churchill

Twenty years later, we have a reversal of roles: with the ELF (now the ELF-RC) cozying up with the TPLF (now part of the EPRDF); the EPLF (now the PFDJ) being shocked and appalled at the ELF �sleeping with the enemy� and the TPLF still claiming, as it did twenty years ago, that it does not interfere in the internal affairs of Eritrea.

The Fronts and their supporters dismiss those of us who find both events (those in 1980-81 and the ones of 1999-present) unacceptable as unsophisticated rubes.    To the EPLF supporters, what the EPLF did in 1980-81 is justified (we were in a life-and-death situation, we couldn�t fight enemies at so many fronts, it was self-defense, etc.) To the ELF-RC, what the Alliance is doing now is perfectly justifiable:  (Roosevelt had to partner with Stalin.  And Churchill once said that he would defend the devil against Hitler.  The enemy of my enemy�)

Speaking as a citizen (until such time that I am deported by Embaye MelekinJ, I find all this realpolitic maddening.  Whatever happened to doing right by the Eritrean people? To honor the wishes of the people?  It is enough to make one say plague on y�all and seek�what, the Third Way?  But the Third Way just ignored the Yield To People and merged with the second, giving us two one-lane roads.

The mock-outrage that is registered by the PFDJ, even as it simultaneously pleads and begs for �normalization of relationship� with TPLF, is laughable.    If President Isaias Afwerki were to travel to Addis Ababa and hold a press conference with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi tomorrow morning announcing, �let�s open a new chapter�� followed by some unintelligible proverb, does anyone doubt that all PFDJistas would hail it as a visionary move by a brilliant man?    And how long would it take them to blame the war and its disastrous consequences on the G-15s of Eritrea and Tigray?  The PFDJ�s position with respect to TPLF seems to be �They are our blood enemies---unless we say otherwise.  Only we get to decide this.  Meanwhile, ye Eritreans, wait for our sign and remember that the Weyane is EmbaH! Hungugu.� 

As for TPLF, even if one were to attempt to understand everything the TPLF did in 1998-2000 as driven by the logic of war, one simply cannot excuse what it did to tens of thousands of law-abiding, innocent Eritreans whom it deported.  If this a partnership among equals, the Alliance should publicly criticize the TPLF and the TPLF should publicly apologize.  Then, the TPLF should go further and invite all Eritrean citizens it deported back to Ethiopia (not that the PFDJ will allow them to go back but the invitation should be made, nonetheless.)   And then, just to show their goodwill to the people of Eritrea and to prove that they do not harbor ill-will towards the people, the TPLF should tell the government of Malta that they would be willing to receive the Eritreans who are on the brink of deportation to Eritrea (and, of course, disappearance.)   It would also be helpful if the TPLF were to disown all the hateful speeches that were made by some of the more extremist members of the party.   All of this requires political courage to stand up against the Eritrea-hating constituency in Ethiopia�and it is time for the TPLF to show it.  

Naieve, you say.  But that's why I am not a politician.  I think it would be disastrous for Eritrea to enter into another lop-sided agreement with Ethiopia.  If the Alliance won't do it (because they are not in a position to), then what is wrong with ordinary citizens expressing it?

The Alliance has to choose whether it represents the values of its members (a narrow constituency) or Eritreans at large (who are mostly unaffiliated with any political party.)  If it is the former, then it should clearly state that it speaks for and on behalf of its members.  If it is the latter, then it needs to consider the views of all Eritreans, including those who think that the TPLF was not only far from blameless in the last war but equally, if not more, responsible than the PFDJ; that the Alliance leadership, as a product of the revolutionary period, will never convince some Eritreans that its motives are not driven by personal grudges.  If the Alliance is truly serious about wanting to gauge the opinions of unaligned Eritreans, it should consider having a �listening tour� instead of a "political seminar tour" and it should have a real mechanism for measuring public opinion.    Its claims that it can only meet in Ethiopia because Sudan won�t let it, etc merely expose its incompetence.  How hard is it to find a host nation in a neighborhood with governments that despise the PFDJ?   Where is Osman Saleh Sabbe when you need him? 

Now Is The Winter (And Summer) Of Our Discontent�

One of the many bad legacies of the PFDJ is going to be that we will associate something dreadful with every month.   February (Remember 1999? Breaking the Badme Front)?  May? It is not just independence month but an Ethiopian offensive with an ill-prepared Eritrea and a Defense Minister explaining "Handebetnet."  September?  Arrest of PFDJ Reformers and the free press.   October?  Arrest of the elderly citizens (including Abdu Ahmed Younis, exactly one year this Saturday.)  The PFDJ must have a big Sadist Calendar where they mark their Wound of The Month. 

That is just the doom and gloom crowd, they said.   Come to Eritrea and see for yourselves!  See the trains on their tracks; see the thousands of kilometers of paved roads, see leisurely Asmara.  Then, be sure to visit the future Eritrea Airlines!  Save all your money and do all your shopping in Asmara.  People flocked in June, July and August.    Only to be greeted by gffa, military police and ordinary Eritreans cursing the government under their breath and blaming the expatriates for keeping a corrupt government alive.  The tourists came back disoriented, many swearing never, ever to go back again as long as PFDJ is in power.  Now they have added June, July and August to the months they despise.

And Eritrean Airlines?   Some of you have seen a photo that Tekaa Zeggai posted in response to an article and a photo that appeared at the Kiddie Website (where the Kiddie Team have secured a Ph.D. in doctoring photos.)   Study the picture.  If the PFDJ record is anything to go by, a few years from now�if the PFDJ is still in power then�I fully expect another disoriented investor, back to the United States, after being bilked of every penny he owns and lamenting his foolishness.  I wonder what month that will be. 

It is not just kids; even some grown-ups have to be burned before they learn that fire is hot.

�Made Glorious Summer By This Sun of York

Eritrea missed a great opportunity when the PFDJ Reformers, The Suns of York, surfaced.  Here were (a) a group of people with impeccable nationalist credentials and (b) were able to transcend the authoritarian and hierarchical culture of their political party.  To appreciate how rare that combination is, just take a look at the still-collectivist, still-secretive habits of the other movements that haven�t gone through their reform movement.   It is like they were in some time capsule: now out, with not a single change in their beliefs or modes of operation.

If the PFDJ Reformers had succeeded, I believe we would have had something very healthy: a strong legislature to counter and temper a very strong executive power.  Given their attitude towards journalism and the law, we would also have had a free press and independent judiciary. 

But it was not to be.

Critics who ask, �why did they promote reform only after they found out the system they help build was coming after them?� are (1) factually inaccurate and (2) incurably cynical.   If they were so power-hungry, all they had to do to escape the wrath of the PFDJ was to prostrate themselves before the party. This is allegedly what an elder Eritrean politician recommended to them after he found out that they neither have the support of the army or the security forces: �yeQre belelna belwo.� (Ask for his forgiveness.) That this was what Isaias wanted was admitted by the Secretary of the Party in his ghost interview with Haddas Ertra (Issue # 11) of August 10, 2001 when he stated �the Party had shared this assessment in its sessions of August and September and, after requiring self-criticism from the group, had every intention of moving forward.�  

The Party, claims the party secretary, was willing to forgive treason.  What kind of treason?  The Reformers communicated via some unnamed mediators with the Ethiopian government, requesting a deal in exchange for Isaias�s head.  Where�s the evidence?  �Well, why don�t you disprove the charges by asking the mediators,� asked a typical PFDJista, without any irony.  It so happens that one of the mediators, Anthony Lake, told Amnesty International that he did no such thing.  What will they say now? Oh, well, what do you expect Anthony Lake to say; of course, he has to say that.  Besides, we never said it was Anthony Lake�   The only thing you can say to the PFDJ supporters is, �May your guilt or innocence be determined by the PFDJ.�   If they have any conviction, they should accept that as a blessing.  But they know it to be a curse, making them hypocrites of the lowest order.

As for the skeptics, people who just don�t allow that people can change unless driven by self-interest are just too cynical and need to expand their reading just a bit.  Some of the greatest transformations in history were quite abrupt and driven by forces that the actors could not understand; religious books and biographies of great men are full of such episodes.

The PFDJ Reformers made�and are still making�one big mistake.  They based�and they are still basing--their moral claims on all the wrong authorities.  When they should have been talking about Right And Wrong, terms understood by all ethical people, they based their arguments on the Party regulations and the Constitution. 

Now, I happen to think that the 1997 Constitution is the greatest document Eritreans produced: a unique product which owes its language in protecting civil liberties to the libertarians and liberal democrats that had the vision to author it and defend it even over the objection of the collectivist and unreformed Marxists in the PFDJ.     However, what the Reformers missed�and still miss�is that to many Eritreans who were deliberately excluded during the process and to many Eritreans who participated but had their inputs ignored, the Constitution is an illegitimate piece of paper: written by the PFDJ, ratified by the PFDJ and, now, ignored by the PFDJ.

Salvation 

Once again, in the face of despair, with the organized political parties playing realpolitic, and the ruling party insisting on working overtime to dismantle the State, it falls on ordinary citizens to assert ourselves and reclaim our rights and obligations.   Eritreans the world over recognize this, which is why there are so many civil societies spontaneously emerging: organizing, talking and doing and spreading the truth about the nature of the PFDJ.   It is only a matter of time and commitment before this movement will expose to the world that Eritrea is unfortunate enough to be governed by a lawless, rogue government.  With time, what is possible becomes probable and what is probable becomes a certainty.

We should not allow another Malta.  We should not wait for saviors; there are none. This is a good thing.  We the citizens must organize, we must lobby, and we must meet without any preconditions to liberate the Eritrean people from the oppression of the PFDJ and, equally importantly, to ensure that Eritrea shall never have an environment that invites a tyrant.  And we must pledge to never exclude anyone�even the fiercest supporter of the PFDJ�from the vehicle of change.